28 Jun 18

GREEN SUPERINTENDENT PLANS

Wow, Andy and the boys have submitted some interesting development and maintenance plans to the Club management Committee for approval to be included in the Winter Works Program.See what he is recommending.

Winter has definitely arrived!! Although the mornings have been fresh we have seen fantastic sunny days, not only for golfing but for drying out the course from all the rain that we received over the last few months.

With the cool weather arriving the ground staff have been able to attend to small work projects throughout the course.

Damaged pipe work on the 4th fairway, 5th fairway and left side of the 7th fairway have been fixed. With the excessive rain that we received over the year, this caused the old pipes that run from our dams to collapse, causing the sink holes. They have been roped off and with the break in weather we were able to get the excavator in to clear the pipes for the ground staff to repair.The 4th and 5th pipes have been fixed and filled and marked g.u.r until the grass repairs to normal, with the 7th fairway pipe being filled in this week.

Whilst Kevin our local member was on site with his excavator, we used the opportunity to dig a small drainage trench alongside the 6th path that has now been permanently roped, and marked as a g.u.r drain. This has already showed a massive difference with taking the water, preventing it from moving into the bunker and washing the face of the wall away each time it rains. However the bunker still needs to be completed with new drainage, removal of rocks and then applied with new sand and this is discussed in my attached report for winter works.

Planting of stolons to the nursery green has been put on hold until September. I mention this as we were pushed backwards from the amount of rain that we received, due to the 18th being very wet we were unable to transfer the sand to the area until recently last month. The area has been cut, sand has been transferred, and irrigation is installed and ready to go. We will wait until September's greens renovations to transfer the stolons for grow in season which will give the staff plenty of grass to repair and turf doctor patches to greens over the next year. Whilst we wait for the nursery to establish, we will continue to remove small carpet grass and crow’s-foot weeds by hand and by chemical until the nursery is ready to be used.

Steve and I have been working on plans to improve our irrigation system over the last 6 months.This involves extending our main dam (near pump) through the 13th fairway. With plans to increase and improve the irrigation system, this means we need a larger water holding area, this being our main dam where the pump station is. At first discussion we would have liked to have extended the dam west towards the open area, as this would not have come into play with our course but unfortunately there is a main sewer that runs alongside coming from the 16th green right through the centre of the course. This is leaving us having to move south through the 13th fairway. I have marked a proposed area of a water way and bridge to be in place if we move towards works in the future.

Ground staff have started spraying for weeds on tee tops and green surrounds, moving on to hand weeding greens. As mentioned briefly in last month’s report, our mowing and rolling of greens schedule are as followed: Greens mowed Monday, Wednesday and Saturday with rolling Tuesday,Thursday, and Friday. This will remain throughout winter giving the greens some stress relief but also rolling for a good firm ball roll.

Attached to my report is a plan for proposed winter works to be looked at for improving the course over the next financial year.

The greens are loving the sun and I’m sure everyone else is too, so fingers crossed for more sunny days with plenty of golf.

Proposed winter works 20189th Tee Re-turf back half of tee with a new formed grass called Zoysia.

Although all grass species need sunlight, this new designed grass has proven to be more effective on growth with only needing 2-3 hours of sun per day making it 30% more shade tolerance than other couch grasses?

I have inspected Ben Tilley's course at Headland Golf Club, and they have trialled the grass this year on a shaded tee, and so far have seen excellent results.

My opinion would be to resurface only half the tee as a trial for the next year as the back half is mostly used for competition, and although we have constructed work and rebuilt the tee last year, unfortunately we cannot touch the trees that are causing the shade problem.

Bare patches 9th, 18th, 15th fairwayCut and re-surface all bare areas that are in play within the fairway with common couch grass.As the 9th fairway is a main focus point to members and visitors at the entrance to the course, improvement on these areas would be highly noticed.Looking down at the 18th is also a concern, as visitors enjoy their refreshments after their round and it’s simply the last thing they see before leaving.

Total costs for all bare areas on fairways mentioned:Excavation works $520 full day$400 Irrigation pipes$650 top soil delivered to site204 square metres of common couch @ $4.00 $896 turfTotal costings for bare areas on 9th 18th and 15th fairway turfed.$2466

Waste clean-up machinery shedDuring the winter period the grass will slow right down, giving the ground staff more time to get on top of small jobs especially if we receive a week of bad weather. In and around the maintenance shed is a fair amount of rubbish including old chairs, non-usable piping enough rubbish to fill a small skip bin.All rubbish that would be filled is non usable due to rust or just rubbish left sitting there over the years.Approximate cost $350

Extended cart path 16thWith having several periods of rain throughout the year, on a few occasions the 16th fairway has been an issue for golf carts getting up the hill from where the concrete path from the tee finishes. With a large incline hill there is always going to be a large amount of water holding to the front of the fairway.My suggestion would be to lay a GEO HEX path that was used on the 1st tee, starting from the end of the existing path, continuing up and along the left hand side of the fairway. With 16 and 7 holes being the most concern, going off closure of carts this will illuminate any issues of carts not being able to continue to this hole.Although a concrete cart path would be ideal, the cost efficient GEO HEX path would be recommended as a trial used on a hill. If this is successful then we could use this material throughout the other inclined holes in the future.Costings of the GEO HEX $26 per square metres.Total costings will be discussed when a design has been looked at with how far we take the path etc.

6th BunkerThe bunker on the 6th hole has been an issue with holding water,and not only has the issue been from water blockage from old pipe work, but also from the large incline hill behind the path that feeds water into and towards the bunker.This month we were able to direct most of the water movement past the bunker with putting a small drain alongside the path. This has already shown massive improvements, with the sand face holding, however the main drainage from the centre of the bunker and removal of old sand needs to be fixed and replaced.

Upcoming Events

To view the new rules videos, click on this link New Rules of Golf. These videos are brief, very well explained, very descriptive and most have excellent illustrated diagrams.

CALLING ALL VETERAN GOLFERS1 Oct 18

The Nambour Golf Club wishes to say thanks to all the Veteran Golfers in this and other Districts.

Veteran Golfers have supported our club through the tough times we have experienced, but now the course is looking great after a fair amount of work.

To make it worthwhile for Veteran Golfers to come out and enjoy their Local Hinterland Golf Club NGC is making special, attractive offers for you, from 01 October through to the end of this calendar year. Read all about these great chances for the experience of this hinterland course.

GREAT SOCIAL GOLFING DEALS

HYDRATE OR HELL?

The hot, humid weather is upon us, and is especially savage as the ground has been so dry. So it becomes even more important that you are properly hydrated and follow sound sun-safety practices when playing golf at NGC.

So where are our water points? Where can I fill my bottle? What aids are available to help me cope with this heat?